01 October, 2005

Hunting for Books

Today is library day.

The day I officially suck off the public teat. Having added a few drops of milk to that teat I have no qualms about this. Thing is, I'm about to add a few drops more because I owe some fines. Most of the books I have checked out currently are for research, which means they end up in odd places all over the house. I don't always feel like sitting ramrod straight at my desk when reading about Medeval Economy in the British Isles or the Real Story Behind the West Memphis Three. But darned if I can remember where all of these books have ended up. And it's a three-story house. So, I have to check under the bed in the nursery-that-isn't-a-nursery; behind the fountain in the living room; through the various stacks beside the bed; in all three bathrooms. Every time I go to the library I forget to take back a book because I've left it in a bathroom. Today I will make sure that doesn't happen. I promise.

If you are the person who is waiting for Great Stone Circles, I'm sorry. I'll have it back to the mothership shortly.

2 Comments:

If you find 'Saturday' by Ian McEwan somewhere in your stacks, please turn it in with the rest of your stash. I think I only owe ten bucks so far, but damn if i can find it, and my house only has two stories..When our dog Sparky was a mere pup in the masticatory stage of life, he chewed most of the cover off of a library book written by Barbara Pym. Not only did he have good taste, but we ended up $25 poorer with a dog chewed and eared Pym novel.

In most of my life I can't stand late fees. We rarely get hit with them, because I'm just that anal when it comes to paying bills, but if we do, it just sticks in my craw.

The library, however, is a different matter. I always pay my one or two dollar fines with a little bit of civic pride. For the thousands of books I've checked out over the year it is, quite literally, a very small price to pay. I love libraries. It's like a Barnes and Noble where it's legal to shoplift.